A Comparative Analysis of Consumer Brand Preference among Selected Apparel Brands Using ANOVA
Author
Bijoyeesmita Das
Introduction
The Indian apparel retail industry has witnessed significant growth due to changing consumer lifestyles, rising disposable income, and increased brand awareness. Brands such as Zara, H&M, Levi’s, and Westside compete intensely by offering varied pricing strategies, designs, and customer experiences. Understanding consumer preference among these brands helps companies improve their market positioning. Statistical tools like ANOVA help determine whether differences in consumer rankings across brands are significant or merely due to chance.
Objective
To calculate beta and observe its significance.
Literature Review
Literature Review 1
According to Abesco Research (2021), statistical techniques such as ANOVA are widely used in marketing research to analyze consumer preferences across multiple brands. The study highlights that ranking-based surveys provide meaningful insights into brand perception when combined with hypothesis testing.
Literature Review 2
Abesco Research (2022) emphasizes that consumer decision-making in the retail apparel sector is influenced by brand image, price sensitivity, and perceived quality. The research suggests that comparative analysis across brands allows firms to understand competitive strengths and weaknesses more effectively.
Data Collection
The data were collected using a Google Form survey from 40 respondents. Respondents were asked to rank four apparel brands—Zara, H&M, Levi’s, and Westside—on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their preference. The collected data were used for statistical analysis.
Data Analysis
A Single Factor ANOVA test was applied to examine whether there is a statistically significant difference in the mean rankings of the four brands.
From the ANOVA output:
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F value = 0.58785
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P value = 0.623865
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F critical = 2.664107
Since the calculated F value is less than the critical F value and the p value is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. This indicates that there is no statistically significant difference in the average consumer rankings of Zara, H&M, Levi’s, and Westside.
This suggests that consumer preference among these four brands is relatively similar, and variations in rankings are likely due to random factors rather than strong brand dominance.
Conclusion
Since the beta is less than 1, it indicates that the company is less volatile compared to the market. Therefore, investment in the company is suitable for long-term purposes if Nifty rises, as the stock is expected to provide stable returns with lower risk.
References
Abesco Research. (2021). Applications of ANOVA in marketing and consumer behavior analysis. Abesco Publications.
Abesco Research. (2022). Consumer preference patterns in the apparel retail industry. Abesco Publications.